All rugged up

Building a new home is never without its ups and downs, and freelance interior stylist Celene Busher knows this all too well! Project managing the build of a beautiful scandi-inspired pavilion home north of Auckland, looking after two young children and getting a boutique styling company and interior store off the ground all at the same time is not for the faint hearted - we think it's fair to say that Celene is a natural when it comes to multi-tasking!

Built on 2.6 acres of land, Celene's home features a stunning 30 degree gable roof pitch. There are two pavilions - the front pavilion being 10 metres long and featuring an open plan kitchen, dining and lounge area. A 5 metre glass walkway joins the front pavilion to the back pavilion which is around 18 metres long, consisting of 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a second lounge.

As for the finishes, Celene's favourite is the polished concrete floor. Hard flooring is a key feature of scandinavian design and is often complemented by chunky rugs - which is where we come in! Creating warmth on hard flooring is easy, even if you don't have under-floor heating.

Carpet retailers often have short ends available for you to purchase that can be bound and turned into rugs - but if they don't, they can always order a piece of Cavalier Bremworth carpet for you. Carpet comes in a broadloom metre which is 3.66m wide and you can order in 0.5m increments. This gives you flexibility to get the perfect size rug for your space. There are plenty of places you can have your carpet sent to be bound - just look online for one in your area. If your dream carpet is out of budget for the whole house, this is a fantastic alternative.

In terms of a rug providing warmth in a space, the best option is wool - in particular chunky felted wool carpets such as Lisburn, as chosen by Celene. "I love the look of loop rugs" she says. "It adds texture to a room without being too busy and Lisburn was perfect for creating this look in the large size we needed."

She chose the colour Damask (pictured above) which complimented her polished concrete perfectly. The gorgeous soft grey base yarn is overlaid with a finer white yarn which creates a stunning variegated effect.

"Not only did we want a rug that looked beautiful and ties in with our minimal scandi style but it needed to be practical with two young ones around. This meant it needed to be easy to vacuum and soft enough for little knees to sit on yet firm enough that it was a good base for building lego and playing trains on!"

To get in touch with Celene for further advice on interior styling and her services, please visit her website Love and Rascals - she'd love to hear from you!